Chris Hemsworth’s ‘Star Trek’ return in doubt

Chris Hemsworth always had plans to boldly go back to the Star Trek universe. But now that Quentin Tarantino is involved, he’s not so sure.

“I haven’t had a discussion about Star Trek for quite awhile,” Hemsworth bluntly tells Postmedia Network during an interview to promote his upcoming war drama, 12 Strong.

After briefly playing George Kirk — father of Chris Pine’s Captain James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot in 2009 — Paramount announced that Hemsworth would be back for the fourth instalment.

In the lead up to 2016’s Star Trek: Beyond, the studio revealed it was eyeing a time travel plot for Star Trek 4 that would see James cross paths with his father, described as “a man he never had a chance to meet, but whose legacy has haunted him since the day he was born.”

But late last year, news broke that Tarantino has pitched an idea for an R-rated Star Trek, with The Revenant scribe Mark L. Smith set to write the script. Tarantino may even direct.

“I don’t know what’s happening,” he says. “There was an idea that was pitched to me and J.J. some time ago and I was incredibly excited by it. So that’s a good reminder to me that I should give him a call and ask him myself,” he adds laughing.